Dinner at Volt, 3 December 2010

Dinner at Volt last night was wonderful. We dined again at Table 21. Food was fabulous, although I have to say our first visit (8 October 2010) was better, not in taste or quality, but in some of the food items. There were more meat dishes last time and more variety meats this time.

Due to our dissatisfaction the last time with the dining exerience, I corresponded with Chef/owner Bryan Voltaggio about our evening in October. He invited us back so that we could have the experience of chef's table.

The service was great. Taylor, our hostess, told everyone about each dish that was served. Here's what we ate:


"spiced cider" busnel cavaldos, pear, coriander


proscuitto chips & dip (a favorite)


yellow fin tuna tartare cilantro, jasmine rice, soy, yuzu, avocado (a favorite)


celeriac macroon foie gras


sunchoke oyster chowder mock root vegetables, dehydrated bacon....

....with the soup added.


nantucket bay scallops shitake, pak choi, garlic (a favorite)


chestnut ravioli maitake mushroom, butternut squash, sage (darn, came out blurry) (a huge favorite)


sturgeon cauliflower, ver jus, chickpea, beluga lentils, cilantro


Bryan on the right


artic char, black forbidden rice, kohlrabi leaves, black trumpet mushrooms


rockfish ruby beet risotto, leek fricassee, maitake mushrooms


Sweetbreads, confit fennel, hazelnuts, black trumpet mushrooms, sorrel


"winter garden" beets, radish, graham soil, cherry glen farm chevre


red wattle headcheese, caramelized red onion noodles, pearl onion


foie gras, brown turkey figs, purslane, vanilla brioche


bread to go with the foie gras


grilled lamb heart, quinoa, pine nut, mint, lemon


pineland farm beef, chanterelle mushroom, applewood smoked bacon, garlic


point reyes blue cheese, apple, balsamic


gala apple, walnut cake, dulce de leche, bourbon


coconut, lavender, vanilla (a favorite)


textures of chocolate, pistachio, orange. (We also received a plate of chocolates, candies, and macroons)



Thanks Bryan for a wonderful night. We appreciate what you did for us.

Greeting from the Atlantic Ocean

9 November 2010
Somewhere in the Atlantic heading to Florida


Our cruise has been great, including our port days (some glitches on board but that's for another time). Will just write some highlights and will post my journal after I return home.

Our time in Rome was great. Beautiful days, no need for jackets during the day. Saw a few churches, had some delicious meals, wandered around Trastevere, and had a great pre-cruise get together that I organized for Saturday night for about 40 people. The place I picked, a bar, was located near the Campo dei Fiori. I arranged for drinks and antipasti. Everyone had a great time.

Bus service to the port went pretty smoothly, although we had a wet and cool morning. The group (39 total) met at my hotel and we headed to the port, arriving around 12:30pm. It was great to see the Equinox docked. Two or three other ships were in port, so the area was busy with arriving passengers.

Louisa was excited to see the cabin with the views from the balcony. A bottle of champagne was on our table.

Great sail away party with fellow cruise critic cruisers –at least 150 people showed up. We started at the oceanview bar but it was very windy and cold, so we headed to the sky view lounge.

First dinner on board was fabulous – prime rib! The portions were huge so I couldn’t eat everything. Enjoyed our dining companions but felt 6pm dinnertime too early. We switched to late two nights later.

LIVORNO: Next day we headed to Lucca and Pisa with Franco, who I hired to take 8 of us for the day. It POURED all day long. It was our worse day of the entire trip so far. My socks were soaked half way through the day. In Lucca after our walking tour and splitting up with the group for a while, Louisa and I ducked into a restaurant I had dined in several years ago. We enjoyed some hearty local soups. Also shared a delicious serving of baked fennel that was topped with parmesan cheese – nicely melted. In Pisa 4 people climbed to the top of the tower of Pisa while two went to a café. Franco took Louisa and me for a driving tour to the port marina area, as we just didn’t want to be outside in the rain. He later dropped us off at a café and bought us tea, which we welcomed.

CANNES: Cloudy day but were happy it wasn’t raining. Great tour with Alain for 8 of us to a few small hill towns. Biot was a lovely small town; Tourrettes was my favorite and Saint Paul de Vence my least – too touristy with all the shops. No charm at all. Our lunch consisted of a panini sandwich while it lightly rained. It wasn’t anything like yesterday.

BARCELONA: Easy day, as we had been there before. Walked along Las Ramblas, explored the fabulous Mercat (indoor market), delicious tapas for lunch (and red wine), and some light shopping. Beautiful sunny day.

CARTAGENA: Met fellow cruisers at our first cruise critic connections party. About 80 people showed up. The staff served coffee, tea, juice, and pastries. Had about 45 minutes before splitting up and getting off the ship. Cartagena is an easy port to visit, but we were docked away from the town center. Complimentary shuttle service to the center of town. Visited city hall in time for an interesting tour. The building had been renovated. Enjoyed some fried calamari and marinated mussels for lunch with a glass of sangria. We walked around the area but didn’t climb the steep hill to the old fortress.

CADIZ: My favorite port of this trip. Beautiful, beautiful city. Tickets to the main cathedral included a visit to the crypt and the nearby museum. I also climbed the tower for great city views. Another perfect blue-sky day with temps in the low 70s. More tapas for lunch. Long walk along the city walls and gardens. Lots of pedestrian streets to wander around.

1st Day at Sea: Being a ‘port intensive’ cruise, everyone was so happy for our first sea day. We enjoyed a cruise group get together and a cabin crawl where we visit various cabins. I go to check out the suites and larger balconies.

TENERIFE, Canary Islands: I had booked a rental car but later canceled the reservations, as I decided to take the tram to La Laguna in the morning and a visit to Santa Cruz in the afternoon. However, I do regret not keeping the car, as 99% of the stores and restaurants were closed being a Sunday. Friends Bruce and Gail joined us, and their new friends Mary and Don. We had to buy our tram tickets from a machine and had some difficulty. Don was the last to buy a ticket, as he allowed another couple (Diane and Murray from Canada) to buy theirs. The tram was arriving and it was arriving fast! I had said to Mary, “Oh look, Don is being nice and allowing that couple to buy their ticket before him. He’ll probably miss the tram. I got on board, Louisa tried to tell the driver to wait, as both Don and Bruce were jumping the tracks (ticket booth on our side wasn’t working). The tram arrives AND leaves on time. No one else got on board from my group so I quickly went to the door to get off. Nope, the door shut in my face and I couldn’t open it. So, there I was leaving the station with Diane and Murray while everyone else missed the tram. I had a good laugh and knew they would eventually catch up to me.

Our visit to La Laguna was nice. It was on the cooler side but at least no rain. We just walked the town, visited the church (mass in session), and visited the market. I had lost my sunglasses the previous day, but I was able to find a pair at the market for 3.90 euros. Cheap! We all had lunch at a Turkish kebab place. Tasty and filling. Tram back to the port and on the ship. We decided it wasn’t worth walking around Santa Cruz since everything was closed.

YESTERDAY AND TODAY: Two sea days have been great. Small waves, so just a nice rolling of the ship. No rain. Lots of sunshine.

Food has been fabulous on this ship. Not a single bad meal. We enjoyed dining at the Silk Harvest, an Asian restaurant. LOTS of food and some of the best sushi I’ve eaten.

More later!

Monica

Arrival in Rome 28 October 2010

Time for another vacation. This trip includes 3 nights in Rome and then 15 nights on board the Celebrity Equinox (Sunday).

Louisa and I arrived safely today. When Louisa and I met up at the airport, I weighed her bag. Actually a guy saw me hook up the scale and he was interested in seeing it so I asked him to lift it 55 pounds, so she had to move things around and I ended up with a few items in my carry on. Had drinks at the bar near the gate and Larry and Anne (from Kauai) sat with us. They had arrived from LAX. Nice time with them and they bought our drinks. We had also ordered fried artichoke hearts with aoli sauce. Very good.

Lots of turbulence last night. Flight attendant came up and I started to show her my ID card to see about getting some complimentary wine and she looked at my seat number and said, "32B and C, yes, we know about you. The Captain told us." So Marcy did know someone on the flight Later he came up to me and introduced himself. We talked (and Louisa too) for about 10 minutes. That was nice of him.

Didn't do much today. Just walked around and had a very good lunch. Ristorante alla Rampa (near the Spanish steps) serves a 10 euros antipasti buffet. One plate only but you can fill it up. Fresh mozzarella, meatballs, eggplant, zucchini, white bean salad, calamari salad, marinated octopus, sauteed spinach, etc. Yummy.

Lots of tourists. Spanish steps packed with people sunning themselves. I went into the church at the top, first time there. Not as spectacular as other Churches' in Rome

It's cold here so I'm glad I brought my heavy jacket. Beautful sunny, no clouds, day.

Will be meeting friends on the terrace here at our hotel for drinks before we go out to dinner with John.

Frederick Maryland Top 10 Listing

I'm very happy to read that downtown Frederick Maryland is listed as onoe of the Great places in America: Neighborhoods 2010.

Click on this link to read the article.


I'm downtown at least twice a week enjoying the local restaurants, shopping opportunities, and Baker Park (Lucy loves it too).

Frederick, MD - In the Streets Festival

Today in Frederick Maryland was "In the Streets", a yearly outdoor street festival. Market street was pedestrians only with lots of food stall, places for kids to have fun, and bands on several corners.

Downtown Frederick was packed with people enjoying the beautiful day. My friend Nicki and I spent about 3 hours walking around the area. We shared a panini sandwich and some wine at Olives. Yum!






There was even a booth with some beautiful owls and hawks, who had been rescued from the wild. One was missing an eye, another a wing, another with a paralyzed wing and this beauty his 'smarts.' He had flown into a window and like the others, no longer can care for himself.

















The kids seemed to have the most fun with the hula hoops and face painting, hair coloring, and rock climbing.




































Carol Creek Canal was filled with families in boats, along with performers.

Horses in my yard!

I just looked out my window and saw horses in my yard! I tried to keep Lucy in the house, but she ran the door before I could stop her. They belong to a neighbor down the street. I guess an area of their fence is down. I threw an apple to Tony who was trying to keep them in the yard - he split the apple for three of them. They were pretty calm despite Lucy. 5 minutes later they headed back home.

Burano, Italy

Here are my photos of Burano.

And here are all of my Burano Reflections photos.

A Short Visit to Washington DC

It was a scorcher today! About 98 degrees. Tony had plans to meet some VMI buddies for lunch in Washington DC, so I went along for the ride and hopped on a metro to the Eastern Market on 7th Street SE. I hadn't been there before and I do enjoy visiting markets.



This is an indoor market filled with wonderful foods: Seafood, meats, fruit stands, a cheese stand, a lovely flower stand, and a place with delicious looking pastries and pies. There were even foods that were vacuum sealed, such as the pollo asado. One meat stand had a variety of sausages: Italian, Argentinean, even Mexican.



I enjoyed a tasty crab cake sandwich at Market Lunch. The line was long with people waiting to place their order. There was a nice variety of seafood to choose from, as well as burgers and BBQ sandwiches. There's a long table with bar stools for the diners. I bellied up and ate my sandwich while talking with a couple of guys next to me. One had just moved to the area after living in Japan for 20 years. Navy guy.

I understand that this market is quite packed on the weekends along with vendor stands outside, so today was fairly quiet. I'll have to return on a weekend...on a cool day.

I walked up 7th street and headed over towards the capitol. Along the way I passed some very beautiful homes. I also saw a small garden with hibiscus the size of small dinner plates. I had never seen them this large!





Nearby I saw this squirrel trying to keep cool in the shade by laying flat on its belly with legs and arms spread out on the dirt. He didn't move at all. Another squirrel was rolling around in the dirt.

I headed to Union station where I knew I could cool down, window shop a little and wait for Tony to pick me up.


We don't get to Washington DC that often and being there today made me realize we need to take advantage of its offerings: The museums, a visit to Chinatown, the monuments, and the Eastern Market...but next time we'll go with a cooler in the car so we can bring home some meats and seafood. I saw some fresh octopus - that would be tasty on the grill!

PS: I was in bed awake at 5:00am this morning and felt the earthquake (5:04am). After the occurrence, I thought to myself: Big truck in the area? No. Airplane? No. Earthquake? Here? Hmmmm. Had to be. Lying in bed, it shook me side to side along with a low, long rumble. The news this morning confirmed what I felt.

Burano Reflections

I wrote an article for the Italian Notebook website, a great web site that provides daily notes on Italy. The photos taken were from my recent trip to Venice. A friend purchased two of them!

http://www.italiannotebook.com/local-interest/burano-reflections/

Monica

Venetian Masks

In Venice Italy, there are many shops that sell Venetian Masks, many which can cost hundreds of euros, as it can take many hours to make by hand. Masks sold at souvenir stands, such as the one in this photo, aren't of a high quality but are definitely a fun souvenir to bring home. These were in the 10 -15 euro range.

Lunch at Hinode's

Today I had lunch with my dad and we dined at Hinode's located next to Carroll Creek canal in downtown Frederick.

It was too hot to sit outside under the umbrellas, as the temperature was rising to the high 90's, possibly hitting 100!

Hinode's has a nice selection of Japanese foods including sushi, sashimi, tempura and teriyaki dishes, and even lunch boxes.

We started with the Gataguri shrimp, which is wrapped in noodles, deep fried, and served with a sweet and spicy sauce,
and pan-fried beef gyoza.

Both were delicious, although the portions were small.

I had the sashimi lunch box, which consisted of a bowl of miso soup, California roll (although I asked for fish roe to be included), shrimp and vegetable tempura), rice, and three types of sashimi (tuna, white tuna, and flounder).


Dad ordered the pork Katsu, which is lightly battered and fried, and is served with a thick sauce; along with a side salad (not pictured).


For dessert we shared the creme brulee, which was one of the best I've had in a while (very creamy and light).


I thought the sashimi pieces should have been thinly sliced, rather than served in thick chunks; and the tuna wasn't of the best quality. Also, were served our main entrees when we were still trying to enjoy the appetizers. Overall, lunch was tasty and filling.

Gondola and Flowers

I took this photo on my second day in Venice. It was a beautiful day!